A bill designed to keep bad teachers from escaping trouble just by moving to new school
districts is headed to Gov. Ted Strickland, after getting unanimous support from the Ohio Senate
yesterday.

House Bill 428 was part of a whirlwind day of legislative activity that included proposed
changes to election laws, gun laws and scrap metal laws as lawmakers sprint to start their summer
break.

The teacher bill was created after a 10-month
Dispatch investigation published last fall found the state's system for catching
and disciplining rule-breaking educators is riddled with problems.

The proposal would immediately revoke the license of a teacher convicted of murder, rape, sexual
contact with a minor or a host of other serious crimes. The bill also would require a school
district to immediately remove a teacher from the classroom if he or she is charged with one of
more than 80 criminal offenses -- the same crimes that prevent a person from obtaining a teacher's
license in Ohio.

The bill also gives the Ohio Department of Education access to arrest and conviction records
through the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.

"This would be a good piece of legislation to take home to the voters to show them how we're
making our schools safer and making the classroom much better for our children," said Sen. Gary
Cates, R-West Chester.

In other legislative action yesterday:

• The Senate unanimously approved a bill that would make changes for the Nov. 4 election, but
only after sometimes-heated debate about whether to allow counting ballots in a central location in
Cuyahoga, Mercer and Van Wert counties.

Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner broke a tie vote to have Cuyahoga scrap its touch-screen
voting machines for the March primary and the other counties followed suit after a study questioned
the reliability of the electronic devices.

But the legislature banned the use of central count after the primary. Election activists and
others prefer optical scanners in each precinct that notify voters of errors and provide a separate
count to help confirm results.

Though the three counties would have to spend nearly $11 million combined on precinct-based
scanners, several lawmakers said the rules were clear before the switch and the state shouldn't
have different ways of counting ballots. The Senate voted 19-13 to reject an amendment allowing a
central count.

Brunner failed to find support for the estimated $64 million needed for her plan to replace
touch-screens used in 53 counties with paper ballots.

The Senate also added provisions to limit the secretary of state's authority to issue directives
and make the Board of Voting Machine Examiners a bipartisan panel. The measure now returns to the
House.

• A bill designed to crack down on the growing problem of metal theft in Ohio passed the Senate.
Senate Bill 171 establishes a host of new requirements and restrictions for scrap-metal sales as
officials attempt to track thefts of copper pipes, gutters, catalytic converters and other metal
products that have fetched higher prices in recent years at scrap-metal yards.

The bill would generally allow cities to establish their own scrap-metal laws, such as the one
Columbus enacted in 2007. The only limit is cities cannot require dealers to "tag and hold" scrap
metal for identification purposes, which should not affect Columbus. The bill now goes to the
House.

• The House approved a bill relaxing some gun laws in Ohio. The change drawing the most fire
from most law-enforcement groups would allow anyone to transport a gun in the cab of a vehicle, as
long as the weapon is unloaded and in an unlocked container. The ammo could be stored nearby,
causing safety concerns for law enforcement. The bill now returns to the Senate.

• A bill designed to foil schemes where investors encourage seniors to purchase life insurance
and name the firm as the beneficiary passed the Senate. The schemes are commonly known as
stranger-oriented life insurance.

The most controversial provision -- a five-year waiting period before a person could sell a life
insurance policy -- remains in the bill, but amendments this week would allow a number of policies
to be sold within two years. This proposal goes back to the House.

• A House committee unanimously approved a resolution calling on the state of Kentucky to
relinquish its claim to the 8-ton boulder known as Indian Head Rock.

An Ohio historian plucked the rock out of the Ohio River last summer, which touched off a turf
battle with Kentucky officials who say they hold legal claim to the rock, which is currently being
stored in Portsmouth.